This lovely summer is (almost) coming to an end. Before another summer leaves us behind, I want to squeeze in this super easy summer poached chicken recipe.
It requires only 7 simple ingredients (chicken, ginger, scallions, light soy sauce, oil, sugar, and water) that you probably already have in your kitchen, and minimal time on the stove. It can also be made ahead and served at room temperature on warm nights.
So while the day is still long and patience in the kitchen remains short, let this new tasty chicken dish carry you through the rest of the season!
Recipe Origins
I came up with the idea for this dish when thinking of my favorite dipping sauce for poached chicken, or bai qie ji (白切鸡).
The Cantonese traditionally serve poached chicken with a sauce made of ginger, scallion whites, oil, and salt. Truthfully, as a Shanghainese person, I never really got into it. I do like it as a sauce base, but I always add light soy sauce to it (the Shanghainese put soy sauce in everything, as Bill likes to say). The combination is just perfect for my palate, and even Sarah and Kaitlin love it, which makes sense, since they’re half Shanghainese!
The resulting sauce for this poached chicken is actually very similar to a traditional scallion ginger sweet soy sauce mixture usually served over Cantonese steamed fish (see our recipe for steamed whole fish here), so I like to think it pleases the Cantonese palate as well.
When Sarah was little, she wasn’t a big fan of fish, but she LOVED the sauce it came with. We would just spoon the sweet gingery sauce onto her rice, and she was a happy girl. I wish I’d come up with this dish made with chicken back then, as she would’ve gobbled it up!
A Quick Note On Poaching Chicken!
In order to make the poached chicken juicy and silky, it is important to follow the cooking instructions laid out here.
Using high heat and over-boiling the chicken will cause the meat to dry out, especially if you decide to use chicken breast (though I highly recommend using dark meat for this recipe––drumsticks, thighs, or chicken leg quarters).
If you really want this dish to turn out great, we recommend buying an organic, kosher, or pasture raised chicken for this recipe. Poached chicken is all about the texture of the meat, and factory farmed chickens just don’t taste nearly as good.
Ok, on to the recipe!
Poached Chicken with Ginger Scallion Sauce: Recipe Instructions
In a medium pot, bring 4 cups water to a boil along with 3 slices ginger and 1 scallion.
Lower the chicken into the pot, and bring to a boil again. Reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer for 10 minutes. The heat level should be just high enough so the water is moving, without any big bubbles or rolling water.
After 10 minutes, turn off the heat, leave the lid on and let the chicken continue cooking in the warm pot for another 15 minutes.
If you use boneless, skinless chicken breast, you can reduce the cooking time to 5 minutes, but still keep the chicken in the pot for 15 minutes after turning off the heat. To test if the chicken is cooked, pierce the thickest part of the chicken to make sure the juices run clear.
Remove the chicken from the pot and place in ice water for 5 minutes to stop the cooking process and firm up the meat.
Shred the meat onto a serving plate.
To make the sauce, heat 3 tablespoons oil in a saucepan over medium/low heat, and cook the julienned scallion whites until crisp and lightly brown.
Remove and place the scallion whites on top of the shredded chicken.
Now add 2 tablespoons light soy sauce, ½ teaspoon sugar and ½ cup of the water you used to cook the chicken. Stir and bring it to boil.
Now add in the ginger and chopped scallion greens.
Taste for seasoning and add more soy sauce or salt if desired. Bring to a boil again and pour it over the chicken.
Serve! You can serve immediately or at room temperature.
Poached Chicken with Scallion Ginger Sauce
Ingredients
For the chicken:
For the sauce:
- 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 3 scallions (white and green separated, with the green parts chopped)
- 2 tablespoons light soy sauce
- 1/2 teaspoon sugar
- 1/2 cup water (the water you cooked the chicken in)
- 15 grams ginger (about 1 1/2 tablespoons, minced)
Instructions
- In a medium pot, bring about 4 cups water to a boil along with 3 slices ginger and 1 scallion. Lower the chicken into the pot, and bring to a boil again. Reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer for 10 minutes. The heat level should be just high enough so the water is moving, without any big bubbles or rolling water.
- After 10 minutes, turn off the heat, leave the lid on and let the chicken continue cooking in the warm pot for another 15 minutes.
- If you use boneless, skinless chicken breast, you can reduce the cooking time to 5 minutes, but still keep the chicken in the pot for 15 minutes after turning off the heat. To test if the chicken is cooked, pierce the thickest part of the chicken to make sure the juices run clear.
- Remove the chicken from the pot and place in ice water for 5 minutes to stop the cooking process and firm up the meat. Shred the meat onto a serving plate.
- To make the sauce, heat 3 tablespoons oil in a saucepan over medium/low heat, and cook the scallion whites until crisp and lightly brown. Remove and place the scallion whites on top of the shredded chicken. Add 2 tablespoons light soy sauce, ½ teaspoon sugar and ½ cup of the water you used to cook the chicken to the remaining oil in the pan. Stir and bring it to boil. Add in the ginger and chopped scallion greens. Taste for seasoning and add more soy sauce or salt if desired. Bring to a boil again and pour it over the chicken.
This looks great! How long for poaching a small, whole chicken?
Hi Julia, it’s no an exact science, but if you’re using a smaller chicken, you may want to check whether it is done after 35 minutes. Happy cooking!
I made this last night and, not surprisingly, it was delicious. But I also learned a couple of other things by making it. First, this is no doubt the best poached chicken preparation I have ever tried. I used bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts and they came out so tender and juicy. So this will prompt me to change a card in my recipe file (Yes, I’m old school). Second, going on what Debbie C. said in her comment, I put the bones and skin back in the poaching water and simmered it a few more hours. It made a very flavorful stock! So now when I make poached chicken I will not only be getting the best poached chicken ever, I’ll be getting great chicken stock for later. Thanks!
Well done, Bob!
Would frozen chicken change the poaching method/time?
Hi Anvil, using frozen chicken should not change the time other than the time needed to thaw your chicken out and let it come up to room temperature. Although chicken legs and thighs are much more forgiving, for even cooking and the best results, you must ensure that the chicken is at room temperature and not frozen or cold on the inside.
My family and I absolutely love this dish! It super easy to make and we can make ahead of time. Just heat up the sauce b4 eating and pour it over the chicken.
And I also discover that the balance stock fm boiling makes a wonder clear chicken soup. Just simply add salt to it and we serve as soup.
The soup was so sweet that my hub comment if he were to drink it outside, he would think the soup is laden with msg!
P. S. The soup taste like the ones the hawkers serves when we order hainanese chicken rice. Oh I am fm Singapore by the way.
That’s so great, Debbie, glad the whole family loved it ;-)
Fantastic flavours! Foolproof recipe. Keep up the brilliant work.
Will do, D.
I love the flavors of this recipe. We only had chicken breast on hand, but with the alternate poaching instructions it still turned out ok- thank you! I can’t wait to remake with legs :-) I used the leftover liquid from poaching to make a light soup which helped me to not wolf down all the chicken right away ;-)
Thank you for sharing your wonderful recipes with the world!
You are very welcome, Sarah. Happy wokking.
How would you plate this meal? And also does it reheat well?
Actually this dish does not reheat well like all chicken dishes. You can serve this over rice or noodles along with a vegetable dish.
I’ve been reading your site for a couple months (I love the travel posts), but this is the first recipe I’ve made. It was delicious!
I’ve made it twice now. I love the sauce, but I really wanted to comment because your method for poaching chicken was a revelation. It was juicy and had a wonderful texture each time (and I was using breast meat–worked better with bone-in full breast). I’ve never really liked poached/boiled chicken because it can come out so dry and mushy/crumbly, but this! I will be cooking chicken this way for all kinds of recipes now. Thank you!
Love to hear that, Elizabeth. Please also see our other poached chicken recipes as a reference for your other recipe ideas. We also have a steamed chicken dish that is out of this world. Happy eating!
Are the nutritional facts per serving? This is great btw. I have been making it once a week.
Yes, Joshua.
I would love to send you a photo of this delicious chicken, , but every piece was quickly enjoyed, long before I remembered to take a photo.
What an easy and delicious meal. I did cook down a Bitcoin more of the chicken, ginger, spring onion broth and added it as well.
Thank you.
I meant a bit more, not Bitcoin- autocorrect and apologies.
Ah! Noted.
So glad you enjoyed it, Alyse.